Winding cone



May 17, 19 32. F. E. MOREY 1 wximme cqrw I Q I I Filed Dec. 16. 1929 7 45/1244 isamy- W [E 747; 3 w

Patented May 17, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FRANK E. MOREY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, .ASSIGNOR TO OSCAR HEINEMAN CORPORA- TION, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS WINDING CONE Application filed December 16, 1929. Serial No. 414,284.

This invention relates to cones or reels employed in the winding of yarn and thread. The improvement forming the subject matter of the present invention has been designed more especially for use on aluminum or other metal cones or reels such as are quite extensively employed for the winding of silk and rayon threads, but the specific material of the cone itself is immaterial to the present invention.

These cones are, of course, used in connection with yarns and threads of varying size or gage, the different sizes being designated in the trade ordinarily by different numbers.

In order to readily identify the size or gage of the thread wound on a cone, it has heretofore been a common practice to apply to the exterior surface of the tip of the cone an identifying color usually painted or lac- 2 quered thereon, the various colors used identifying different sizes of thread or yarn. There are at least two drawbacks or objections to this identifying device, as follows. Cones carrying silk threads require to be moistened before they are subsequently used on a knitting machine or loom, and this is commonly done by dipping the wound cone in a chemical solution which frequently badly discolors the colored band or other indicating mark on the tip of the cone, so that in time the different colors are not readily distinguishable and are sometimes confused. Again, a cone thus marked with one color can be properly reused again only with the size or gage of thread that is associated with and identified by that color. Hence, manufacturers and winders of yarns and threads are required to keep in stock a very large number' of differently identified cones in order to promptly fill incoming orders.

A primary object of the present invention is to provide an identifying marker for cones of this character which shall be readily removable and replaceable so as to enable a given stock of Comes to be used in supplying orders for different sizes or gages of thread or yarn. In other words, the main purpose underlying the invention is to provide a cone that, by means of diflerent identifying mark- 5 ers all applicable thereto, may be used to supply any size or gage of thread or yarn that may be called for.

Anotherobject of the invention is to provide a removable marker so mounted on the cone that it will not catch on or interfere with the free passage of the thread or yarn as the latter is withdrawn from the cone.

To this end the invention consists, broadly, in combination with a winding cone, of a yarn or thread identifyin marker that may be easily and readily apphed thereto and removed therefrom, so that, by the use of interchangeable markers, the same cone may be employed for different sizes or gages of thread or yarn.

. In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated one simple and practical form which the invention may take, and referring thereto- Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a Well known form of metal cone having my improved marker applied to the tip thereof.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal axial section of the same.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged longitudinal axial section of the upper portion of the cone, with the marker appearing in side elevation; and

Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are plan views of markers of difl'erent colors which may be interchangeably used on the cone.

Referring to the drawings, 10 designates as an entirety the winding cone, in this instance shown as an aluminum cone provided with the usual surface perforations 11 for thread moistening and ventilating purposes.

As more clearly shown in Fig. 3, the upper or tip portion 12 of the cone is depressed inwardly of the latter, forming a countersink l3; and the depressed tip portion 12 is formed with a central hole 14. Into this hole is tightly fitted and swaged the female member or ring 15 of an ordinary glove-fastener, the transversely elastic spring-shank button member of the fastener being shown at 16. The head of this button carries a thread size identifying symbol, usually and preferably 7 a color, although other identifying symbols or indicia may be used within the purview of the invention. I have herein shown for this purpose a thin colored disc 17 that is of substantially the same diameter as the head of button 16 andgis permanently cemented or in stock in order to promptly fill all incoming orders. For example, should he receive an order for say 100,000 packages of thread of the size identified by the red marker, and finds that he has in stock say 20,000 cones carrying the ,red marker and 100,000 cones carrying the yellow marker, but has a practically unlimited supply of markers of all colors, he can very quickly and readily replace the yellow markers on 80,000 of the cones in stock with red markers, thus making up the required number of cones to fill the order. Since the cost of the markers is but a trifle compared with the cost of the cones, the economy of this is apparent.

The marker is applied by simply entering the spring body of the button in the ring 15, and giving it a push. By the use of a sharp pointed tool, such as a knife blade, entered under the head of the button through the margin of the countersink 13, the marker is dislodged with equal celerity and facility. By forming a countersink in the tip of the cone to receive the exposed portion of the marker, I avoid anything in the nature of a projection that might catch on or interfere with the free passage of the thread or yarn off the tip of the cone during unwinding.

While I have hereinabove described the marker on the tip of the cone as a thread size indicating symbol or device, it is manifest that the same might be usefully employed to identify other characteristics of the thread or yarn wound on the cone, such as stock material (silk, cotton, wool, rayon, etc.) and hence I do not limit the invention in its broadest aspect, to a thread size or gage indicator.

I have herein shown and described one simple and practical embodiment of the invention, which, in practice, has been found to eifectuate the stated purposes and objects I thereof, but, believing myself to be the first to provide a winding cone for yarn or thread equipped with a readily applied and removed marker requiring no attaching means and of much less cost than the cone itself, I do not limit the invention to the specific embodiment thereof herein presented, but reserve all such variations, modifications and mechanical equivalents as fall within the spirit and purview of the claim.

Iclaim: In combination with a winding cone formed with a countersunk centrally apertured tip, a button formed with a glove-fasener shank adapted to snap into and out of 

